Revealed: first look at Tim Gurner’s proposed $250m Port Douglas masterpiece
A private island that can be booked for events and an ocean-like lagoon are features of a stunning 118-room hotel and resort proposed for Port Douglas. See inside.
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The Far North will be home to underwater hotel suites offering a Great Barrier Reef-like experience if Melbourne-based rich lister Tim Gurner’s stunning $250m hotel project gets the green light.
Mr Gurner, whose net worth is reportedly $929m, has paused from giant projects such as the $1.7bn La Pelago residential precinct at the Gold Coast to focus on the first luxury hotel in Port Douglas since the Sheraton Mirage opened in 1987.
“I have always loved Port Douglas, for the last 20 years I have been holidaying there with my family and I think there is a huge opportunity to deliver more luxury accommodation to the area,” Mr Gurner said.
“Everyone I talk to in Melbourne and Sydney wants to visit and they want access to high-end hotel options, so we see this as a huge opportunity for the future of Port Douglas and look forward to delivering something truly incredible that will redefine local tourism.”
Initially the 26,000sq m property at 91-113 Davidson St in Port Douglas was earmarked by the Gurner group for serviced apartments and private homes.
But after talks with Douglas Shire Council, the development was recreated to fit with the Port Douglas Daintree Destination Tourism Plan 2025.
The five-star project will include six underwater hotel suites alongside facilities inspired by the beach clubs of the Greek Islands and Saint Tropez.
Mr Gurner has focused on wellness with projects such as a new private social club called Saint Haven in Melbourne – it offers cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen pods, red light therapy, IV drips, and classes with high profile coaches on everything from meditation to cycling.
The gated Port Douglas development is being branded as a “sensory wellness resort” and will feature 118 resort rooms, with 59 lagoon-facing rooms and 46 rooms fronting tropical gardens.
It will have a luxury beach club modelled on Les Palmiers in Saint Tropez and a private island that can be booked for the day or for events.
The development includes 44 hotel-branded homes, each with a mineral pool, set to be priced between $2.5m to $10m, surrounded by more than 5500sq m of private landscaped areas and facilities that can be booked.
Construction is set to begin on Mr Gurner’s separate Port Douglas project, four luxury homes at Murphy St, later this year.
He said ultra-luxury accommodation had been built at Byron Bay and Noosa but Port Douglas had been left behind and did not have the same destination appeal.
Homeowners can put their properties into a letting pool.
Mr Gurner said he wanted to make a respectful and meaningful contribution to Port Douglas with architecture in keeping with the natural landscape.
He described it as a low rise eco-retreat.
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Originally published as Revealed: first look at Tim Gurner’s proposed $250m Port Douglas masterpiece
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